


Self Control

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: A Thousand Ways [7]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: And they're both blind, But only because Steve is an idiot, Feels, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 08:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9376535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Steve's self control is slipping. As always, it's Danny's fault.(Post-ep for 7x13, specifically focusing on that gorram dancing comment)





	

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is old, but I finally saw 7x13 and there is NO heterosexual explanation for that "dance with me" line. It haunted me until I wrote this.

Steve used to be a hell of a lot better at self control than this.

For most of his life, you could argue he was basically _made_ of self control. The Navy, the SEALS especially, was all about subsuming the will of the individual for the good of the team. He’d stuffed down decades of anger, grief and longing in order to do is job, because the mission never cared about how sad you were or whether your heart was broken.

Then he’d come back to Hawaii, and though shutting down was no longer essential for survival his control had still come in handy. It tended to when you had a mother who loved her secrets more than she did you, a former girlfriend who loved her job more than she did you, and a best friend and partner who still had no idea just how much you were in love with him.

But things had been good lately, whatever Danny had been angry about fading away, and apparently Steve’s control had started slipping a little. The fact that Danny kept touching him wasn’t helping, the warm press of his arm and shoulder making his head fizz far more effectively than the bottle of beer in his hand.

He turned to look at Danny, smiling at the stage, and thought about how beautiful he looked when he smiled. He was warm and glowing in the torchlight, everything Steve could possibly ever want, and the desire to ask Danny to dance rose up inside him like a wave.

Luckily, some of his brain was still working and realized what a spectacularly bad idea that would be. This wasn’t like Kono’s wedding, where it could be passed off as a joke. No one else was even dancing, which made his sudden, burning need to pull Danny to his feet and twirl him around the sand even more ridiculous.

He couldn’t quite stop it, the words too close to the tip of his tongue, but he did change it to say “You don’t have to dance with me this time.” Nearly nonsense, but Danny just glanced over at him and back at the stage like he hadn’t even processed what Steve had said.

So he was safe. Which was good, right?

Pushing back any thought that might say otherwise, he turned his attention back to the stage and Max’s going away party.  

000

Later, after Max unexpectedly got emotional and everyone had gathered for a group photo Max could take with him, Steve was back on the picnic table with another beer in his hand. Danny was dancing, twirling Grace around the sand in time to the song Flippa was playing, and it took everything Steve had not to get up and join them. Given the state his self-control was in, it was too dangerous.

But he could watch, and not even have to hide the goofy smile on his face. Everyone here already knew he loved them. They just... didn’t know the details.

At one point Danny caught Steve’s eye, and soon after that he left Grace with a kiss to her hair. She started dancing with Max, showing him some new move Max had clearly never heard of, while Danny walked over and dropped down onto the bench next to Steve. “So,” he said, leaning over to pluck the half-full bottle of beer out of Steve’s hand and taking a drink. “I’m pretty sure this qualifies as you being a party pooper.”

“Which is usually your job, I know,” Steve teased back, turning away so he wouldn’t be caught staring at the way Danny’s throat moved when he swallowed. Sabrina and Kono had both joined in on the dancing, the laughter that floated over as sweet as the music. “But you look like you’re actually having fun, for once, so I thought I’d pick up the slack.”

“That’s very generous of you.” Danny leaned back, shifting over slightly so his shoulder was leaning against Steve’s again. Just like last time, Steve went absolutely still in the hopes that he wouldn’t move away. “But if you want to be dancing, I’m pretty sure I can hold this bench down for you for a little while.”

Steve shook his head. “Nah.” He glanced over at Danny, lips curving upward again. “I’m happy right where I am.”

Danny watched his face for a moment, those little furrows that always meant he was thinking too hard about something appearing on his brow. “So what was that earlier?” he asked finally. “About me not having to dance with you.”

Shit. He should have known Danny never brushed anything off. He looked away again, shrugging just a touch too theatrically. “Beer hit me.” He tried a dig, hoping it would distract him. “Your liver’s a weakling, Danny.”

“See, I _know_ my liver, including the half that I put inside you, so I’m not going to buy that at all. I’m also fully aware that the first sign Steve McGarrett is no longer sober is you laughing like a hyperactive 12-year-old or launching into detailed explanations of chemical reactions.” He could practically _feel_ Danny’s eyes trying to peer into his brain. “That, my friend, was neither.”

He’d withstood all kinds of interrogations, including ones that heavily involved _torture_. But Danny... Danny could pry things out of him almost effortlessly. “What does it matter?”

“Because _you_ matter, you ass.” He said the words so easily, like it was one of the basic facts of the universe. As if Danny Williams wasn’t one of a very small group of people who believed that, and possibly the first who’d made real progress convincing Steve that it was true. “And, even after all these years, I still need a road map to the inside of your head sometimes.”

Steve let out a breath, suddenly tired. He glanced over at Danny, saw the genuine concern in his eyes, then looked back out at the rest of the party. “I was going to ask you to dance with me,” he said finally, voice quiet. ”Decided against it.”

There was only silence from Danny, deep enough to drown in. Steve carefully avoided even a glance at his partner’s face as he stole his beer back, leaning forward for a long drink. Another few seconds and he’d make a joke, cover up the gaping hole in his self control with humor, and they could forget any of this ever happened.

Then he felt Danny grab his shirt, tugging him back, and he turned to look at Danny in a gesture so automatic he couldn’t have stopped it if he’d wanted to. Danny was staring at him now, his expression more intent than it got in the middle of some gunfights, and Steve’s stomach sank as he realized a joke wasn’t going to cut it this time.

Then Danny leaned forward, his lips brushing against Steve’s like a firebrand, and everything else faded into white noise. Steve leaned forward, helpless to do anything else, and though it deepened just a little it stayed lingeringly, achingly gentle. It was, quite possibly, the best moment of Steve’s entire life.

When they broke apart, Steve’s heart was pounding so hard he was amazed everyone else at the party couldn’t hear it. His brain still wasn’t quite working right, not able to process the new reality he’d just been dropped into, and from how wide Danny’s eyes were it was possible he was feeling something similar. He was watching Steve’s face like it held the secrets of the universe, and he must have seen whatever he needed to because his expression suddenly softened. Then he grinned, bright and beautiful, and took Steve’s hand as he stood. “Come on,” he said, tugging Steve upward. “You said I didn’t have to dance with you, but I never said you didn’t have to dance with _me_.”

Steve let himself be pulled, his self control in pieces at his feet. Right then, there wasn’t room for anything inside him but joy. “I can do that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my new original fiction on my [blog](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)


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